


Out of the Ordinary

by TheMulletWhisperer



Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Gen, Humor, Sassy, Tags Are Hard, Telvanni are Annoying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-01
Updated: 2016-06-01
Packaged: 2018-07-11 11:58:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7049737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMulletWhisperer/pseuds/TheMulletWhisperer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As Teldryn and his charge visit Master Neloth to deliver a Black Book, a small glimpse is had into what daily life is like in the Ashlands for the duo.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Out of the Ordinary

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little break from the Galina/Arkved arc, I wanted to write Neloth and Teldryn together!

“Ugh...in all my years on Solstheim, I have never smelled anything quite as foul as a Telvanni’s tower…” Teldryn’s voice was muffled by the scarf around his face, though Svani’s ears had well compensated for the speech anomaly. They’d been travelling together for almost a month now.

“Oh, do not complain so much, you irritable S’wit. You have travelled with this one long enough to know that anything smells better than a wet Khajiit.” The Khajiit flicked her tail at him and continued trudging through the ash towards Neloth’s mushroom tower. 

“And yet you still refuse to wear a hood in the rain.”

“It messes with her fur! She does not like it.”

Teldryn simply rolled his eyes, following the betmer up the walkway and through the door. As soon as Svani set a paw on the levitation pad, she let out a snarl and began flailing wildly as she rose. Every time, Svani. Every time. Once she reached the top, she flopped onto the outcrop and writhed a few moments, trying to figure out where she was before standing up, licking her paw, and grooming her own head. 

With an eyeroll, the mercenary stepped onto the pad himself, rising significantly more calmly and planting his feet firmly on the outcrop. Across the room, Neloth stood over a table stacked with books, more common books on either side of a neatly laid-out row of Black Books. A fresh one, Svani produced from her bag. 

“Neloth?”

The Dunmer looked up from the books, “Can you not see that I am  _ concentrating _ ?”

“She can see that. But she does not care, and has a new book for you.” She held it out towards him as he spun on his heel and approached.

“Perfect! Give it here.” He held out his hand, but Svani kept the book firmly in her paws.

“Not until she is paid.”

“I do not have time for this game, you will be paid when I am sure this is legitimate.”

“She wants to be paid  _ now _ , or the deal is o...off…” The Khajiit trailed off and seemed to be staring at something, and the strange behavior caught Teldryn off-guard. A quick glance over her shoulder revealed that Neloth had gained the upper hand by pulling a ball of yarn from the table next to him and dangling a loose string in front of the Khajiit, who had become enraptured enough that the mage was able to take the book without any resistance.

“Fetch.” The Dunmer tossed the ball to the other side of the tower and Svani sprinted after it, pouncing to the ground when she neared it. Though she remained out of the sight of both the Dunmer, she could still be heard batting it around and knocking into tables. 

“You know, Telvanni, eventually she’s going to stop falling for that.” The Khajiit’s companion spoke up once he managed to stop watching the beyond-strange betmer. By time he started speaking, Neloth had already begun re-ordering the books on the table in front of him.

“I have used it several times, I suspect it will work every time.” 

“You are quite insufferable, you know that, wizard?”

“And you travel with a housecat.”

“I do not travel with--” As Teldryn’s indignant reply began to form, he realized Svani had walked up to him and began rubbing her cheek against his arm, purring audibly. Neloth gave a pointed glance at the mercenary who rolled his eyes beneath the helmet.

“At least she makes decent tea.”

“Drovas is getting better. I think. Or perhaps I have become more accustomed to the taste of clumpy ash since my time on Solstheim.” He glanced over at his near-untouched cup before returning to his work, “Besides, he can at least make a mediocre apple cabbage stew.”

“Svani makes strikingly almost-okay fish fillet, she even catches them by hand.” Teldryn went to look at his charge, but realized that she’d gone off somewhere else in the tower where he couldn’t see. Only a moment later, a loud crash came from the staff enchanting room, followed by a, “She is fine, do not worry! The nix hound is not, though!” 

Simply rolling his eyes, Neloth finished organizing the books and turned back. For the longest time, he stared at Teldryn, until breaking the silence, “Are you  _ waiting _ for something? I believe you have more books to deliver for me.”

“As a matter of fact, I am waiting for pay.”

The wizard sighed and removed a coinpurse from his bag, tossing it to Teldryn, who caught it with ease. “There. Now go on, you are disturbing my focus.”

“Right, wouldn’t want you to fall short of your sleeping quota.” He turned around towards the staff enchanting room, “Svani, let’s go! I have the coin.”   
  
It took a moment of silence, but the Khajiit came walking out of the corner room with twine stuck to her ears, acting as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Come to think of it, nobody was. “Good, she is ready to go as well.”

Without even acknowledging her, Teldryn hopped into the levitation field once again, followed by Svani, who came down the same way she went up. Once she’d recovered from her most harrowing fall, they both exited back into the Ashlands with red scarves over their faces.


End file.
